LOSSES ?

[Guest]

I"VE ONLY HAD THEM 40 YEARS GEORGE & STILL LEARNING!!

AS YOU SAY GEORGE WHEN I LET MINE GO YESTERDAY NEAR THE VILLAGE OF FORTH, IT WAS AS NICE A DAY FOR TOSSING THE BIRDS AS ITS BEEN FOR A FEW WEEKS, NOT AS HOT WITH A NICE BREEZE,AT LEAST IN THAT AREA.HAVE 18 HOME NOW FROM 24 SENT,BUT NOT HAD ANY IN THE LAST FEW HOURS.

[westburylofts]

 

NO ONE HAS SAID ABOUT HAWK'S

IF A HAWK GO'S THROUGH YOUR YB'S WHILE TRAINING THEN THEY ARE SCATTERED

TO THE FOUR WIND'S,  THEY COULD BE MILES AWAY BY THE TIME THEY

CALM DOWN,   THATS IF THEY HAVE NOT GONE THROUGH THE TREE'S OR HIT

WIRE'S.

 

ONE REASON I SAY THIS IS A MAJOR FACTOR IS WE AND PLENTY OF OTHERS

DOWN THIS WAY HAVE NOTICED THE INCREASE IN BIRD'S COMMING HOME

DAMMAGED  SO MUCH SO  THAT WE CHECK ALL YB'S AND OLD ON RETURNING

TO THE LOFT,  WE HAD A YB RETURN SATERDAY THAT HAD BEEN ATTACKED

 

IT SEEMS TO BE ON THE INCREASE.    HAS ANYONE ELSE NOTICED THIS

 

RAY

[jimmy white]

breeding yb s with less constitution, due to modern day treatments, treating willy nilly, for the least thing, were gradually ruining the constitution of the ybs, then breeding from them and making matters worse, off course there are many other obstacles, but in my opinion this is the main one

   exellant post will be very interested to see the answers

 

i was refering to "other obstacles ",ray,meaning hawks , and even whats in the air nowadays [ dont mean oxygen ;D],   but injections , certain medications etc, dont really know the answer , but in 1958 started off with 9 yb,s finished up with 7 that was all the training , and all the racing, yb nat. at that time was cheltenham 300 miles sent 2 got 2, but that was fairly the norm then , but today there is definately something,and whatever it is, and its got worse as the years have gone on.

[rockinrick]

 

TO WHO???

 

to whoever pairs there ybs for racing , wat i mean is why do u pair ?

 

[Guest]

I never pair young birds, if they pair on their own all well and good

[Guest WINGS 04]

THAT IS WHAT I DO AS WELL HYACINTH

[Guest]

Bit of soul searching recently. Second year hard running yearlings / two year olds dropped first few weeks of racing ... ranged for weeks as young birds, used to start them @ 20 miles, go 30 & 40 then 1st race.. Tried training on my own, and with another, and with many others. Group / Single-up. Same result, dropped as OBs. Reckon my method of training is at fault.

 

I've 19 YBs for racing this year. Range about an hour 0600 time daily. Looked at Forum posts and started training Monday last, repeat stages, 10, 20 and 30 miles. First time there, I beat them home, second time, they beat me, then onto next stage. 6 trips so far and I reckon they are ready for 1st race [60 miles]. Next thing I intend to do is [condition permitting]  get them to do whole YB race programme, including pick a few for SNFC Huntingdon race.

 

Had hoped to train round compass, work and other commitments has stopped that. Reason I want to do it is because I had a youngster lost in Fife [north of me] living rough from 4th to 21st July, finally picked it up in St Andrews [lady non-fancier] and frankly don't think bird will make it.... seems if they overshoot by just a few miles, they're lost. That's the opinion what happened to our OBs from Stratford race, birds overshot and ... reported in Fort William and Elgin.

 

So agree, exercise homing instinct as well as their bodies.

[swilcox]

Bruno

 

Unfortunitly the first couple of races can be a lottery, for some reason on certain early races they come out of the Basket, fly round for hours and then get picked off by hawks or go down exusted.

 

My advice would be to keep um training send 25% for the first too or three weeks and then slip the rest in as you go along. When everybodies youngsters are coming well i find it easier to jump a cuople in each week regardless of the distance. Hope that helps.

 

Stuart

[stucky 1]

with the look of this week end forcast think il miss this week not wanting birds spending nights in basket to be then brought back home, funny this i logged on using new name and got my old name i use to use year a go lol.

[rlez]

with the look of this week end forcast think il miss this week not wanting birds spending nights in basket to be then brought back home, funny this i logged on using new name and got my old name i use to use year a go lol.

 

hi rose

up here its the opposite.i would not send to mid-week because they are liberated after 4pm and only have a certain amount of time to come home if they hit some thing then they would home next day were as sat libs they have all day to home.with this modern racing we seen to fall into the trap trying to time our birds to the minute to when they home.and when they dont we slag the birds

les

[stevebelbin]

The top flyer in our club this year, didnt race his YBs last year, just trained them and allowed them to have a good moult. And he pretty much wiped the floor clean with his yearlings this year. One of his yearling hens has ended with the most fed points. Food for thought.

[PIGEON_MAN]

DO YOU TRAIN YOUR DISTANT YOUNG BIRDS ROSE AS BABIES VERY MUCH OR LEAVE THEM UNTIL THEIR YEARLINGS.

[jimmy white]

just seen a batch of about 40,,50, heading towards fife area, they flew through that pylon sub station where all the pylon wires meet, 2 pigeons hit the wires and dropped1 managed to hit the wires and struggle on well behind the batch, i asked to go in and look around but they wouldnt let me [which i could understand] but it shows you what can happen when their out of your hands,  [ this would be about 11 am]

[stevebelbin]

I saw the same thing last year Jimmy, there was a batch of what looked like 100+ YBs and I saw a good few hit the wires and drop to the ground. I couldnt stop to see where they landed as I was doing 80mph down the motorway. This must be a common thing in races when you think how many are liberated together.

[mark]

early morning training as the later they go in the evening if a mistake is made less chance of daylight to find way home = a night out

[bluey]

One of the benefits of later liberations is if the pigeons do get off line they run out of daylight before they are too far away and have to roost therefore saving a bit of energy. If they manage to find a drink and maybe something to eat they can make their way home next day.  If they are up early pigeons that get off line can spend much more time trying to find home and then becoming exhausted making them easy prey for predators.

[Guest REDFOXKRAUTHS]

hi i am 13 and started with 12 young ones by the time i finished training i had 9 and buy the time i had my first race i had seven left and i still took three cards in the top ten,in 1 race,so small teams are better because i had 50 in 2004 and ended up wit 11 befor racing and 10 at the end,

ben

[PIGEON_MAN]

early morning training as the later they go in the evening if a mistake is made less chance of daylight to find way home = a night out

 

YOU COULD LOOK AT THIS IN A DIFFERANT WAY,IF YOU TRAIN EARLY IN A MORNING AND THEY GET LOST THEY COULD FLY FOR HOURS AND FINISH UP HUNDREDS OF MILES FROM HOME WITH NO CHANCE OF GETTING BACK,IF YOU TRAIN IN THE EVENING AND THEY GET LOST THERE IS LESS CHANCE OF THEM GOING TO FAR BECAUSE OF LESS DAYLIGHT,O.K THEY WILL HAVE A NIGHT OUT BUT YOU HAVE MORE CHANCE OF GETTING THEM BACK FIRST LIGHT AS THEY WONT BE COMPLETLY FLOWN OUT.

[THE FIFER]

ur right redfox

[T_T]

I knew a fancier who EVERY year would train his youngsters late evening to GUARANTEE them a night out.  Don't think it hurt them.  When the race proper arrived if they went off line, they would be there the next morning.

[David Swain]

Gave ours two late evening tosses - 7pm-ish -  from 5/10 miles and they took absolutely ages, coming back in ones and twos right up until dark with most of the rest coming next day at various times and eventually losing five out of 60. Today they went 15 miles, up at 9.30am and nothing until 1pm, then 15 in an hour ( all in ones and twos) and they're still dribbling in!  Weather perfect, so what is happening to them ? Funny thing is apart from one which has a possible broken leg, the ones which are back all look fine and not particularly flown out, just a little stunned. I know it means that at least they are all having to think for themselves and saves singling them up - but what we'd give for an occasional good toss when they all race back together in good time.

[Guest]

guy in my club tossed 84 y/birds 20mls tuesday 7.00pm

 

as from this morning he has got 9 back

[stevebelbin]

Gave ours two late evening tosses - 7pm-ish -  from 5/10 miles and they took absolutely ages, coming back in ones and twos right up until dark with most of the rest coming next day at various times and eventually losing five out of 60. Today they went 15 miles, up at 9.30am and nothing until 1pm, then 15 in an hour ( all in ones and twos) and they're still dribbling in!  Weather perfect, so what is happening to them ? Funny thing is apart from one which has a possible broken leg, the ones which are back all look fine and not particularly flown out, just a little stunned. I know it means that at least they are all having to think for themselves and saves singling them up - but what we'd give for an occasional good toss when they all race back together in good time.

 

I was up at 530am this morning and had mine at 25miles and there was still at this time batch after batch going past for mine to get dragged off with, and they did get on the back of a batch. Luckily all were back in good time but, if your YBs dont break off they could end up anywhere. Definately something affecting our YBs though, as everyone seems to be losing loads.

 

 

[sapper756]

With regards as to how many I,ll send this week to our 1st young bird race. Probably 6 or 8 maximum as a matter of interest. I have said before recently the first race is a lottery, with a lot of untrained birds in the baskets, hoping for a TOW UP THE ROAD. Usually by the 3rd or 4th race every thing has settled down. Good luck to all racing this weekend.

[David Swain]

Still 20 down at 6.30pm and after 9 hours on the wing I doubt if we'll see any more tonight. Makes you wonder why you bother - but after 45 years in the game I suppose we'll keep coming back for more !